James H. Ledlie

James Hewett Ledlie (14 April 1832-15 August 1882) was a Union Army Brigadier-General during the American Civil War who was most infamous for his dereliction of duty at the 1864 Battle of the Crater during the Siege of Petersburg.

Biography
James Hewett Ledlie was born in Utica, New York on 14 April 1832, and he worked as a civil engineer on the Erie Canal and railroad construction before entering the Union Army as a Major at the start of the American Civil War. In December 1862, he was promoted to Brigadier-General and commander of the Artillery Brigade of the Department of North Carolina, and he transferred to the Army of the Potomac at the start of the Overland Campaign of 1864. On 9 June, he assumed command of IX Corps following Thomas G. Stevenson's death at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and his division was chosen at random to lead the assault on the Confederate positions at the Battle of the Crater, as General George Meade believed that experienced white troops should lead the assault instead of the specially-trained African-American troops, who had been readying for the assault for weeks. During the ensuing assault, Ledlie and Brigadier-General Edward Ferrero watched the battle from a bunker behind their own lines, sharing a bottle of rum as their divisions were destroyed. Ledlie's dereliction of duty resulted in his dismissal, followed by his formal resignation on 23 January 1865. After the war, he continued to work as a civil engineer in the West and South, and he died in Staten Island in 1882.